Best Conflict album?

martin

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I was having a discussion with someone about anarcho-punk recently, and we were trying to work out a) the best band and b) the best A-punk album ever. This was quite a lengthy, thirst-inducing process, and included a number of highly controversial expulsions, which I'll relate here so you don't have to think about it. Crass were dismissed for their pacifism; the Apostles for being too individual to fit into the A-punk bracket ; the Subhumans for being a musically dire, sub-heavy metal bunch of yokels with Ben Elton on vocals (and for the dickhead singer's ongoing, sneering contempt for urban working class people) ; Flux of Pink Indians for being too laidback ; all the American bands for being over-emotonal ; Poison Girls for just being boring ; and The Mob and Rudimentary Peni cos neither of us had heard them

So, we (well mostly me, but I'm just not accepting Crass) came to the conclusion that Conflict are the best A-punk band ever, and that 'Increase the Pressure' is the most copper-bashing, nazi-smacking, abbatoir-bombing, rock n roll A-punk LP of all time. OK, maybe Side 2's (live) a bit ropey sound quality-wise, but the 7 tracks on the first side are fucking astounding in a blow it up burn it down kick it til it breaks style. It still sounds seething, violent and passionate, whereas their later stuff saw them becoming obsessed with their own mythology and releasing tonnes of inferior 'last album, we're definitely off after this one' platters with maudlin end tracks. Just out of interest, what's your take on this? What is the best Conflict album? Am I right or what?
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
I think it's the Ungovernable Force.

I didn't know that the world needed an operatic, thematically linked, anarcho punk concept album before I heard it, but I couldn't imagine the world without it afterwards. I remember it being quite magnificent. It's as if they suddenly channeled the spirits of Frank Zappa and Peter Gabriel and filtered them through the thrash. Only, you know, good.

Lets face it, Crass are only good for graphics, Poison Girls really do bore you shitless, and noone but Stewart Home likes the Mob... if not Conflict, then who? Noone.
 

martin

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Oh, incidentally Paul, I think I've been cursed by Wiccans. Ever since I called Wiccans 'c***stains' (it was sincerely meant as a joke) I've had a run of bad luck, and quite frankly, if I could shift this miserable well of misfortune before Xmas it would be ace. Is there any way to call off the curse, if indeed one has been placed? I'd appreciate any tips. Yeah, I know what you mean about the rock opera aspect.
 
D

droid

Guest
martin said:
Ben Elton on vocals (and for the dickhead singer's ongoing, sneering contempt for urban working class people)

A bit confused by this - where do you get that impression from? I have to confess to being a Subhumans fan in my teens (it was the 'pay no more than £3' 7"s that sucked me in), and if anything, I always thought their lyrics conveyed just the opposite sentiment.

2stepfan OTM on Crass - but you have to admit - they were great graphics! :)
 

martin

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droid said:
A bit confused by this - where do you get that impression from? :)

Admittedly I haven't listened to them for years - thank Pan (come on, I need those Wiccan brownie points) - but I seem to remember loads of their songs slamming city dwellers for being lazy and stupid, apathetic slobs consuming meat and watching TV while propping up the nuclear stockpile etc, whereas they were some sort of revolutionary rural minority who'd sussed out that war was 'bad' , man. Same attitude seems to be evident in Citizen Fish lyrics (now there truly is a band that proves whites can't play reggae) but again, I only skimmed thru them before scratching the record and taking it back cos it was so awful. 'No no no no it's too shitty, I don't wanna live in the big big city!'. Well no-one was inviting you, you wigwam-dwelling crustie cunt....((the singer, not you - I'm not up for collecting curses))

The Subhumans had this big puritanical thing about dissing punks who dyed their hair as well, iirc. And they did an anti-smoking song!! Can you imagine Johnny Thunders or Guitar Wolf giving out health warnings on their records? Bah - Subnormals more like. But anyway, do you remember Omega Tribe?
 

john eden

male pale and stale
martin said:
Flux of Pink Indians for being too laidback

LOL! - there's nothing the other half and I like better of an evening than a nice bottle of wine and a chill out with The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks/The Fucking Pricks Treat Us Like Cunts! :D

Quality expulsions though - you would make a great Guy Debord type, I reckon. Tho you forgot Zounds (OK-ish, bit yokelly, only did one LP, which I have sold) and of course lots of others - DIRT, Omega Tribe etc who are probably best forgotten.

I've not heard "Increase The Pressure", I'm ashamed to say, but it does have an absolutely spot on anarchopunk title which combines energy, urgency and a hint of desperation.

"Ungovernable" is great from what I can remember, cod patois chatting on one track not withstanding. "Final Conflict" is worth a listen if only for the great rendition of The A Team, but lyrically it's mainly concerned with all the guff about how people put them on a pedestal maaaaan but it's up to everyone to smash the system together maaaan and not have heroes and all that. Which is the a-punk version of writing songs about driving down rock's highway and hotel rooms and stewardesses and stuff.

"Conclusion" is fucking mince from what I can remember. I swear it has a bit which goes Phillip Glass halfway through one track but I'm sure that can't be right? Too reflective - lots of guff about "a room with no windows" and stuff.

That one with the Hogarth painting on the cover (I think their first?) wasn't quite there.

So you're probably right, unless we include the singalonga balls-out "Turning Rebellion Into Money" - the live LP from the Academy gig which preceded some serious to and fro-ing with the riot police in Brixton. Or maybe those "Bullshit Detector" LPs which consisted of demos sent to Crass.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
martin said:
But anyway, do you remember Omega Tribe?

Ah! Good.

"Angry Songs and Bitter Words" - the "Candle in the Wind" of the anarchopunk movement.

Are we excluding Chumbawamba for not being punk enough?
 
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martin

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john eden said:
Quality expulsions though - you would make a great Guy Debord type, I reckon. Tho you forgot Zounds (OK-ish, bit yokelly, only did one LP, which I have sold) and of course lots of others - DIRT, Omega Tribe etc who are probably best forgotten

BORING FACT OF THE MONDAY NIGHT - The bloke who sang in Zounds was running a film and video course at North London Uni in the 90s, the only reason I know is cos my flatmate was on it and the bloke got all excited cos he discovered Lush were gonna cover one of his tunes. DIRT were OK, but that fucking singer wouldn't stop yelping. Actually, to be honest, I only know one Omega Tribe song (that one 'It's gonna blow, gonna blow, any moment!'). Yeah, those 3 were definitely the Genocide Organs to Crass / Conflict's TG / SPK.


john eden said:
I've not heard "Increase The Pressure", I'm ashamed to say, but it does have an absolutely spot on anarchopunk title which combines energy, urgency and a hint of desperation.

Oh man! That was their big 'right, fuck pacifism, let's get aggro' road to Damascus moment. Worth getting for the 1 and a bit minute punk/rap rant "Law and Order" and "From Protest to Resistance" alone. Though it is on the short side, and not very musically varied, but the spirit and anger shine thru. 'Conclusion' is bloody awful, 'Final Conflict' has that naff countdown where they go through all their album and EP titles as if they were imprinted on the national consciousness - interestingly, it also has what sounds like an anti-abortion song - and the Benjamin Zephaniah track is just about passable, but white people, stop trying to write reggae songs!
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
Dealing with cursing

Fuckin' ell, real Wiccans don't get pissed off at being called cockstains, they get pissed off at non-initiates calling themselves Wiccans instead of calling themselves pagans (which is much cooler term anyway). And if you were calling them cuntstains then, well, as a goddess-oriented religion, they should have been flattered.

Anyway.

If they really are Wiccans and they really have cursed you, they're being a bit silly really. There are three possible ways of dealing with it. One is psychic self defence -- Wiccans (well second degree anyway) are supposed to subcribe to the idea of the law of three fold returns. This is largely cobblers and genned up Wiccans tend to take it with a pinch of salt but it's part of the ideology. So simply reflect on the fact that whatever shit you're going through is going back to them three-fold. Because they believe in it, it will go back to them three times.

Second way is some old English folk magic that's got mixed into hoodoo. Take a small piece of paper and write on it "Let the waters below wash away these troubles under the guidance of Hecate and Legba". Wrap the paper tightly round a pound coin so it won't come off easily. Take the coin to a cross-roads, after dark, turn anti-clockwise three times -- surreptitiously, obviously, or with your luck you'll be abused by drunks -- and leave the coin and paper on the road. Say a prayer of thanks to Hecate and Legba morning and night for three days afterwards or they'll think you're taking the piss. (Hecate as goddess of justice and scolder of foolish Wiccans who go around cursing for no good reason, and Legba as big chief of voodoo who will undertake small jobs for a token sacrifice if asked politely. Waters below are your ancestors -- even if the deities fuck you off, your ancestors love you and want to look after you regardless.) Don't be tempted to put your blood onto the paper sigil style or Legba might think you are the sacrifice and you don't want that.

Third way is -- assuming you know the individuals you think have cursed you -- to go up them and say that you didn't mean to offend them when you called them cockstains and it was just a joke. This is the hardest to do but probably the most effective.
 
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martin

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Paul -that's superb. I'm not 100% sure if Wiccans were involved, but I would just like to officially state, I have nothing against Wiccans (with the exception of the racist Column 88 spinoff, the Wiccan Workers' Party, though I believe they disbanded in the 70s anyway), and I called you "cuntstains" affectionately. I don't believe that you were all like the lisping Wiccan prison chaplain on Sunday morning telly, nor do I think you invoke Harry Potter against your enemies. Why, even my mother's a witch. BTW, did the CD turn up OK?
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
I am delighted to be called a cuntstain affectionately.

Yes the CD got here just fine, I did send a thank you mail, promise!

Naturally, we don't invoke Harry Potter. Heavy shit going down there! ;)
 

martin

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Broke a rule by actually looking at a band website - latest news with Conflict is that Paco the drummer's had to quit touring cos of cellulitis, the band are trying to get a new video shown on MTV, Mortarhate Records is currently under investigation by the inland revenue - oh, and they've even set up a forum for racist jokes. Those Eltham boys, I dunoo....
 

Martin Dust

Techno Zen Master
2stepfan said:
I am delighted to be called a cuntstain affectionately.

Yes the CD got here just fine, I did send a thank you mail, promise!

Naturally, we don't invoke Harry Potter. Heavy shit going down there! ;)


You're a Cuntstain, darling!
 

john eden

male pale and stale
I bought Increase The Pressure on CD for a quid from Active Distribution who are having a clearout.

I think Martin is right!
 

martin

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I bought Increase The Pressure on CD for a quid from Active Distribution who are having a clearout.

I think Martin is right!

Damn right I am- even 12 years on. Weirdly enough, I only recently discovered Uncarved Block by Flux, which isn't nearly as bad as scathing online comments led me to believe.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Damn right I am- even 12 years on. Weirdly enough, I only recently discovered Uncarved Block by Flux, which isn't nearly as bad as scathing online comments led me to believe.

Yeah I still like that one. Keep meaning to do a mix of anarcho-unpunk at some stage...
 

martin

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See you all there

CONFLICT IN LONDON
31 DECEMBER 2020
There are no tickets available for this event. People will only be aware where this will take place on the day.
There will be a information number released on that day to the location.
THEY CAN NOT STOP THIS WITH ANY LAWS.
The only way this will not happen is if I feel that it can hurt or kill any of my squad or any of you.
This is what we are
This is what you are.
Compliance is not AN OPTION.
We are one
What Conflict won't do is buckle down to a absolute cretin like Borris or ANY other left or right wing self centered cunt
This much remains
Stay safe
Watch this space
CPJ
London-England
2020


To a nation of pathogen lovers.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Bold move. Lots of their fans knocking on a bit too.

 
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